Humans are not the only animal species that tries to heal wounds–or even perform amputations. Some carpenter ants appear to treat their nestmates with wound cleaning or removal of a limb and could even be tailoring the course of treatment depending on the type of injury. The findings are described in a study published July 2 in the journal Current Biology and observed in the video above.
“When we’re talking about amputation behavior, this is literally the only case in which a sophisticated and systematic amputation of an individual by another member of its species occurs in the animal Kingdom,” study co-author and University of Würzburg behavioral ecologist Erik Frank said in a statement.
For ants, wound cleaning is not exclusive to only one species. Megaponera analis ants use a special gland to deliver antimicrobial compounds meant to quell possible infections. However, the Florida carpenter ants included in this new study don’t possess this kind of gland and appear to only be using mechanical means to treat their fellow ants. This care involves one of two routes. In the first method, the ants perform wound cleaning with their mouthparts, without the antibiotic-like secretions that other ants have. The second method includes a cleaning like the first, but is followed by complete removal of the affected leg with their mouths. To determine which is the best course of action, the insects appear to assess the type of injury.
In the study, the team analyzed two types of leg injuries–lacerations on the femur and those on the ankle-like tibia. All of the injuries to the femur were accompanied by initial cleaning of the cut by a nestmate. A nestmate then completely chewed the leg off. Tibia injuries only received a mouth cleaning. In both of these cases, the ants with experimentally infected wounds had a much greater survival rate.
[Related: Matabele ants might be able to diagnose and treat infected wounds.]
“Femur injuries, where…
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